May 20, 2012

Infrared saunas are the latest trend to create a buzz in the home healthcare marketplace. They've been proven effective in clinical trials for treating chronic pain resulting from a number of issues ranging from arthritis, fibromyalgia, tendinitis, and back injury just to name a few. But is it safe or is the cure worse than the original problem in this case?

What is Infrared Radiation

If you're like most people out there, the safety questions you have revolve around the word 'radiation'. All your life, you've been told that radiation is nothing good for you and now here are the makers of infrared saunas trying to convince you to climb into their product and bask in infrared radiation. So then who's been lying to you here?

What you need understand is that the word radiation is used to describe anything that radiates out from a source. So technically speaking even a common light-bulb is admitting light wave radiation when you turn on the wall switch. Now nuclear radiation is the bad stuff though, because it's composed of radiating electrons being emitted off decaying molecules.

Infrared radiation is basically just heat waves that are radiating out from the source creating them. So when you stand next to a campfire for instance, and feel the heat on your skin, what you're feeling there is in fact infrared radiation. It's the same thing when you look into your oven when something as baking and feel infrared radiation coming off the heating filament.

So Yes - Infrared Saunas are SafeSo people have been warming themselves with heat infrared heat waves like this since the beginning of time, the only thing really different here though this now the heat waves are being generated in infrared saunas. Even so, do be aware that any time uses any type of sauna you need to be careful not to overdo it because there's always the risk of dehydration or overheating.